


Bad Things Happening

by aNonny_mouse



Series: Bad Things Happen [2]
Category: Deltarune (Video Game)
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Dehumanization, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mercy Killing, Tearful Smile, Trying not to cry, begging for death, food desperation, implied child neglect, self deprecation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:15:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25945711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aNonny_mouse/pseuds/aNonny_mouse
Summary: My own Bad Things Happen Bingo board. I'd really like a blackout so check my tumblr tag to find the most up to date board:https://who-is-susie.tumblr.com/tagged/badthingshappenbingoOne of the prompts is already posted as its own work. It's currently listed as Part 3 of the series but it's from this board.I accept prompts for both Deltarune and Undertale.
Series: Bad Things Happen [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837585
Kudos: 10





	1. Left Behind (Kris)

Kris had taken his absence surprisingly well. As he applied to colleges, as he was packing, even as he gave final hugs and farewells before climbing into the car. Maybe it hadn’t hit yet, maybe their brain didn’t want to acknowledge it, or maybe it wasn’t as big a deal as everyone wanted to make it out to be. He’s not dead. He’s just a few hours away and he’s bound to visit every now and then. In between visits, technology exists and they can keep in touch. Things may be changing but it won’t change that much, right?

It’s the night after Asriel left. His half is emptier than it should be. It still has a couple trophies, an old console, a torn varsity shirt, a drawing, the sort of things he won’t really miss while he’s away but he’s not ready to toss out completely, either out of obligation or nostalgia. Where does that leave them? They were left behind too.

No, that’s not right. They aren’t a thing. They weren’t abandoned, this time. They’re not forgotten. They try to sleep. But his absence puts a noticeable weight on the room. They stare at the dark side of their eyelids until morning rises. It’s a beautiful day outside. They get up, surprising their mom by their early presence.

After that, days go by as normal, yet not completely. They follow the monotony of school and home, noticing how the dynamic of the town changes ever so slightly, sometimes missing out on school altogether, now that no one is there to drag them into their classroom. Eventually, their mom takes notice and assumes the role herself.

Then the day comes when routine breaks. They’d avoided exploring the town since Asriel left. They don’t want to see. They don’t want to hear. But their wants don’t matter as much as the one who saved the day. So they amble along. They listen to their neighbors. Their brother had always been a bright spot to this town, but somehow he’s become an even bigger star now that he’s gone. Everyone reminisces on the times they shared with him and the hypotheticals they wish they had. Kris remember when-? You must miss him so much. Oh Kris, when is he coming back?

They walk into the diner. After eavesdropping on a couple tables, they approach the counter and QC greets them as usual.

“Hey there! Haven’t seen you in a while, hun.”

Kris stands and stares. QC continues on reminding them of bad and of good. They describe Sunday mornings with Asriel until Kris envisions them as well. The corner booth was a comfort, a constant, a place where the two of you could just talk away from it all. Drawing on the windows, stacking the little jams and creamers on the table, tossing rolled up straw covers into each others’ drinks, well maybe that last one was more Kris, but the domesticity of it, the carelessness, that feeling that life is shit but maybe it’ll be okay, that they aren’t alone.

It’s so stupid and small, but it’s gone, and that makes it precious.

“On the house, hun.”

Kris got the hot chocolate.

The cup warms their hands, and smells of drifting comforts. They take a sip. It’s rich and smooth against their throat. They drink more. Each gulp is a memory, indistinct but powerful against the theatre of their mind, more like flashing emotions on a screen. Their mind is bitter and tongue is sweet, two opposing fronts dancing around one another to form a storm. The beginning mist of tears edge at their eyes, out of their control. They grab onto the counter and tighten their throat, cutting off the offending stimulus from doing any further harm. Their lip trembles so they bite it, their eyes shake so they shut them tight. Close up the blinds, put out storm windows. This is not the time for rain. It’s a beautiful day outside.


	2. New King (Lancer)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things went wrong on the roof.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW Character Death (implied)

He’s- he’s gone. He doesn’t dust. He doesn’t sploosh. There’s a crown on the floor and three gapmouthed “heroes”as the only proof of what just occurred.

“S-susie, you didn’t mean to-“ a soft voice tries to console her, but that’s not how it works. Damage is a function of intent, at least with monsters. Is that how it is with Darkners? She didn’t mean to- well, she was mad but, she didn’t want-

Suddenly someone rushes onto the roof, the last person she wants to address right now.

“Everyone!! You’re okay!” He scans the area, happy to see you all in one piece, then he takes another moment and his smile falters. “Where’s dad?”

Susie grimaces, Ralsei averts his eyes and wrings the corner of his robe, Kris stares blankly ahead.

“G-guys?” Lancer prompts and takes in their reactions. He falls silent too. It’s unclear what’s going on in his head but he’s at least fit together the pieces.

“Lancer I- he had Kris. He was gonna- I had to-“ Susie tries to offer up an explanation but every sentence pushes out in the same breath.

“That’s okay.” He has his face down, concealed in shadow. “I knew that might happen, right?”

“Dude I swear, it’s not okay at all! I am so so sorry! This wasn’t supposed to- I promised this wouldn’t happen.”

“Don’t worry about it, Susie.” His body trembles slightly but he keeps it out of his voice to the best of his ability.

“Hey. It’s not fine.” She grabs his shoulders, “I’m not trying to get pity. Just yell at me. Get mad, tell me I’m a terrible person. I can take it.” She says this like a plea, shaking him as punctuation to each sentence.

He slowly raises his face towards her, revealing a strained smile and darkened eyes. “It’s alright, really. You did what you had to.”

She lets go, momentarily unsettled by the grimace he bares.

“I-“ she tries to continue, not sure what to follow with.

“I think you guys should go.” It’s not malicious. His smile doesn’t budge. “I forgot to mention. I told the guys you were fighting my dad, and now they’re all rushing to get here.”

“Lancer-“

“They’re probably trying to break down the door right now.”

“Lancer, I’m so sorry, please I-“

“Susie. You need to go.” His body is tense, fists clenched tight at his sides, as tears puddle up on his cheeks.

Susie bites the inside of her lip and stares intently at the floor. A hand tugs at her arm. She looks up at Kris, who can only stare back, and Ralsei who waits timidly behind them. She swallows and looks at Lancer, whose tears now trace along the groove of his never fading smile. He turns away. She grits her teeth and does the same.

She moves at last, and the three of them go to the fountain. Once they reach it, Ralsei congratulates them on their journey, reminds them of the good they’ve accomplished, and grants one more look at Susie. “I’ll make sure he’s okay. Please, take care of each other too.”

He retreats back towards the castle, and the remaining two step into the fountain, abandoning the darkners the same as those before them. Maybe they were always better off on their own.


	3. Spare (Ralsei)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Better to die yourself then to live as someone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW Begging for Death; Descriptive Pain; Major Character Death

“Kris! Everything is alright! We can fix this, we’ll figure it out!” Ralsei’s words tumble over each other, contradicting the calm assurance he had hoped to achieve. Kris isn’t in a much better state.

Their words are choppy at best, interrupted by jolts of agony that leave them writhing in their prone position on the floor, desperately clinging to their empty chest simultaneously tearing it apart and holding it together, blocking it from the force that yearns to poison their bones and eliminate their mind. They’re blocking out the soul, and it shakes every cell of their body out of place in sharp undulations to do so. They scream and groan and Ralsei babbles and casts useless spells. Their HP isn’t at stake and the green magic doesn’t assuage the pain. It’s just busy work, something that makes him feel like he’s contributing in some sort of way.

Kris knows this is a fight they can’t win. They can only struggle for so long before they slip, before the soul returns to its place and regains control for good. Maybe there was some other way. Maybe with time and research they could banish this thing once and for all, slash the connection and feed it to the void, not that they could trust the void in any case. But they don’t have the time. They can feel each wracking wave of magic, of signals burning their insides, melting them into compliance or crackling at their defiance. Soon they’ll let go and it’ll be in. Their mind, their will lost, stolen, overwritten forevermore.

They pool their focus at their voice, trying to corral the shrieks into more coherent sounds. “Ral- Plz-“

Ralsei rushes closer, kneeling beside and holding out their hands in an uncertain motion. “What can I do, Kris please?”

They hiss a quick intake of air, fingers digging into their sides. “End. It.”

“What does that mean? I don’t know how.” He fidgets and frets. Kris is in so much pain and he just sits and watches so helplessly. What can he do- there’s nothing- nothing.

“please.”

He can’t stand this! He can’t stand to sit here. He pushes away, ready to return to his restless pacing when the next word strikes him.

“kill-”

He couldn’t have heard that right. Kill? Kill what, kill the soul? It’s impenetrable, not corporeal enough in its own right to be destroyed and any attack he makes on it will just hurt Kris more.

“me. Kill. Me.”

He stares wide eyed at Kris. His brain refuses the statement and waits for them to clarify again but their only response is another outburst as they twist their chest off the floor and claw around their collarbone.

They really want-? They can’t expect him to…

“Kill-” interrupted by an excruciating scream that tears its way up through their chest and deep into the emptiness around them.

Ralsei covers his ears and closes his eyes too for good measure, creating an echo chamber for his thoughts. They twist and bounce off and into each other creating a convoluted tangle. Each growing yelp from Kris cuts into the mess and scatters them once again.

“Plz- Ral-sei”

He dares a look at Kris and is instantly struck. They look directly at him, pleading. He cups a hand to his mouth, holding in a cry of his own. They’re suffering so much. They need him. They need him to stop this. He bites into his hand. “I don’t want to,” he whispers.

Kris can’t keep up eye contact long as they turn once again to keel to one side. This hits Ralsei as well, pulling him in a similar motion. His eyes water. He begins to rock on his heels, air hushes against his hand, either mumbling refusals or unsteady breaths. Another scream and he falls off his feet.

“ralsei,” all on one breath he can barely hear. He shakes his head fervently, hand still grasped to his face. Kris reaches out and grips his wrist. He tenses but refuses to pull away.

“Now.”

He freezes.

“Ralsei!” They add with more urgency.

He blocks out his thoughts and wills an attack in the air above them. A magic circle fills then stretches down at the center, a diamond shape, then a taper to a sharp point aimed directly at Kris. The integrity of the shape sways with Ralsei’s frantic breathing and begins to break off on one end. Kris’s grip tightens. Ralsei closes his eyes and lets it fall to its mark.

It’s quiet. The yells have stopped now. There’s no more shuffling or straining. The only noise is his own panting breath. The grip on his arm is looser now but still there. He opens his eyes then pulls back. The hand falls away from him and lays next to their body, motionless and limp. He’s shaking at an incredible rate, holding himself in a protective hug as something builds in his chest. His breathing quivers further as tears choke up his throat and eyes. He curls up to the hero, his friend, and sobs at world’s edge.


	4. Faceless (Susie+Lancer)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are what they say you are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW Self-deprecation; Child Abuse/ Neglect (Implied); Food Desperation; Dehumanization

She walks into the school, heavy feet thudding with each stomp. The world shakes, announcing her presence in shivers down the hall. Everyone sitting in neat lines, unaware, unsuspecting. Perfectly situated in class, groomed, punctual, fit into their ecosystem of functioning students. They wouldn’t know. The monster approaches just outside their vision. Grimy, yellow claws swing in menacing arcs by her side. Crazy, disheveled wires twist off her head in every direction, reaching to entrap her victims. Her arms and legs bulge with malicious intent and send echoes, bouncing off lockers, sounding off like the growing booms of a horror scene until they can’t ignore. She is loud so she can’t be ignored. She’s sick of being ignored. The students look around. The sound punches at the door, each pounding movement leaves a scar of alarm crisscrossed against the room. They look to each other. They look to their teacher and she is scared too. Louder, building, higher, until the door slams open and there is no escaping. She’s in the frame. Bully. Monster. Freak.

She creeps around the house. She is a stranger, a shadow. She is quiet so she can be ignored. She needs to be ignored. The house is full of monsters. She is a small thing, her steps are light, barely gracing the floor for a moment before moving back to the safety of the air, the furniture, the edges of the carpet. A veil edges around her face, hiding fear. Her arms and legs are far too thin, they rattle and crack as she creeps into the treasure vault. There’s no more carpet to cushion her steps, her feet stick and rip away heel to toe. She winces to the nearest cupboard and slowly pries open the decaying wood. It creaks much too loudly for comfort and she buries her head in her shoulders to evade the sound. If she can’t hear it then maybe they can’t either. She hushes her breath and refrains from shushing the room itself. She carefully extends a shadow to grab the loot. A thud meets her ears. It startles her hand and reverberates in mimicking scrapes. She strangles her hand silent. Only the monsters can make noises. She is quiet and she listens. The echoes are a room away. The crunching steps, the harsh guffaws, they approach. She slides the cupboard shut, quiet sacrificed for speed, slipping into the dark corners of the room and out far far away before they can reach the door. She’s not there. Nuisance. Thief. Ungrateful thing.

In another world, A blue flash of movement zooms by with a roar and a cartoonish honk. Ah it’s just the king’s weird son. One time they found him in the castle’s temporary trash chamber before the contents were carted off. He was tunneled piles deep in the stuff, traces of discarded meals lining his mouth. He left with miscellaneous mechanical parts proudly in both fists, and licked away the other evidence of his adventure without a care. He’s less of a prince and more of a force. On multiple occasions, he’s filled the castle halls with an ear splitting squawk. The only thing that’s reliably stopped his cries is Rouxl’s collection of worms. He slurps up the things like wriggling spaghetti noodles. He’s certainly a strange little thing. Spontaneous but overall harmless. He’s just a kid after all. He can’t do much of anything. His dad makes sure to remind him of that plenty. He can’t take care of himself or make reasonable decisions. He’s too naïve, so easily swayed. He even collaborated with the dreaded Lightners. He’s not competent to be a ruler. He can’t even manage to scrounge up decent meals for himself. He’s so useless. He’s in the way.

She meets him and she’s still so hungry. All the stolen food can’t satisfy what she really needs. Her face is a jagged hole, reaching out to join the dark world she’s fallen inside. It rips away at the labels she’s taped together to cover the chasm, if they fall she will be nothing. She needs something quick or she’ll be lost. She snatches him by the collar, ready to steal this too, but when she pulls him close, she sees he has no face either. Empty. Useless. Screwup.


End file.
